


Unseasonably warm

by nymphori



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Winter Festival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7095424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymphori/pseuds/nymphori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tetsurou was only meant to look but instead he got addicted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unseasonably warm

Tetsurou likes children. He likes helping children. He likes when the really little ones babble to him about their entire lives. He likes the ones who focus intently on what he's trying to show them. The parents can sometimes be difficult because they think they know better, but the children make everything worth it. It makes the splinters in his fingers and the bruises on his hands worth it.

But well the cute—  _brother? babysitter?_ he looks too young to be a parent,kind of makes things doubly worth it.

Tetsurou is not ashamed to say he noticed the guy as soon as he walked in, a hand to either side for his two — _kids? siblings?—_  to hold on to. Tetsurou has never been so jealous of his friend, but he is in the middle of dealing with another couple of families which leaves the cute guy for Shirofuku to deal with. It's a shame initially but Tetsurou thinks that it's Shirofuku's initial instructions that have the cute guy still sitting by Tetsurou and struggling through step one. He _is_ ashamed to admit that instead of offering to help so that _Cute Guy_ can move on, Tetsurou just spends an hour staring at him in every lull he gets.

And then he leaves. Tetsurou watches as _Cute Guy_ places the lanterns, not even close to half finished, carefully in a corner of the room. _Cute Guy_ doesn't redress the children hanging around him in their too big jackets and overflowing scarves, all he does is pick up a wallet and leave. Tetsurou hopes it's his own wallet. Tetsurou hopes he'll come back. Tetsurou hopes that the unfinished lanterns will get finished by _Cute Guy_ and the children that cling on to him.

Tetsurou _really_ hopes that _Cute Guy_ and the children he's with come back because way too many times Yamiji asks if they've been abandoned and way too many times Tetsurou has to insist that they haven't been abandoned, but really, he doesn't know any better.

So when _Cute Guy_ does, in fact, show up again Tetsurou lets out a sigh of relief.

Only this time, Tetsurou doesn't wait to be asked for help. This time, Tetsurou offers his help. Which immediately shows up as a line of frustration across his forehead as Tetsurou tells him that he has to redo what he's done already. He's put the lanterns together wrong. Tetsurou shows _Cute Guy_ what to do and then steps back to give him space. _Cute Guy_ sits on the floor with the children next to him and a pile of recently taken apart cane between his legs. Tetsurou watches him, he talks to a flood of other children and their parents and their siblings, but his eyes always find their way back to _Cute Guy_ on the floor.

He might be the highlight of Tetsurou's week. There have been a ton of people he's walked through the instructions and his hands have passed over thousands of strips of cane and even more pieces of tape and as bad as it sounds he has been having fun, but even so, _Cute Guy_ stands above everything else as what he will remember most about this time.

And finally, Tetsurou sees _Cute Guy_ finish up with the step that has plagued him for hours, a lunch break, and then some. Tetsurou thinks he's being at least a little bit stealthy when he offers Yaku the chance to go for lunch early so that he can take over the station for the next step.

"Hey!" He calls, far too cheerfully than the moment really needs, "got everything sorted out?" Tetsurou is smiling, he means only the best, but before answering properly _Cute Guy_ releases a heavy sigh that has the children clinging onto either side of him giggling.

"I hope so," he says, voice low enough that Tetsurou can play off leaning in closer as necessary to hear him. "I really don't want to have to take them apart again."

Tetsurou grins as he takes one of the partially constructed lanterns from _Cute Guy's_ hands. "Well, this one looks fine so I'm sure the others are too!" This time, Tetsurou can tell that the sigh is one of relief. "The next step is to secure the rings you've made to the verticle support," as Tetsurou demonstrates the next step, what order to attach the rings and where to secure them, the children disappear. "So, either you can hold it while the kids tape or you can tape while the kids hold," Tetsurou says, to be received by another sigh.

"Is there any way to do this myself? I think they're bored of sticking everything together." _Cute Guy_ throws a quick look over his shoulder and Tetsurou follows it to see both of the children he's been with pushing each other out of the one armchair that is miraculously empty.

"No problem! That's why we're here!" _Cute Guy_ turns to look at Tetsurou now and it's the first time Tetsurou has really been able to get a good look at him, something that's not just sneaking glances across a crowded room. He gets to see the look of desperation that is very apparent on his more than appealing features. Dark green eyes, smooth skin, full lips pulled into a tight smile, and Tetsurou may have been staring for a little bit too long. "I'll hold it together and you tape it up."

"Okay," and that's all it takes.

There's silence while they work. A small bubble of silence in the surrounding noise and chaos. It's nice. It's nice that while _Cute Guy_ tapes up the overlapping cane together their fingers brush. His fingers are warm, rough, and Tetsurou has to stop himself from flinching with every new joint they piece together. He can't make a big deal out of it because _Cute Guy_ seems to think nothing of it. There's nothing in his face that Tetsurou finds himself staring at every time _Cute Guy_ looks down in concentration where his fingers work, where they tangle together. He's probably held a lot of hands, or maybe just one hand a lot of times, that's a nice thought too, and Tetsurou's fingers holding together pieces of cane fit nowhere into all the touches _Cute Guy_ has experienced.

"Thank you," Tetsurou feels so much more behind the short words and it's understandable. In ten minutes they've achieved more than _Cute Guy_ did in the two hours he had been working alone.

"Kuroo! Lunch!" Tetsurou turns in time with _Cute Guy_ to where his best friend stands on the other side of the table they're working at. He's already dressed up in his jacket and scarf and has Tetsurou's draped over his arm.

"Thank you, again," _Cute Guy_ says, "hopefully with this, we can sort the other two out on our own." Tetsurou didn't even notice the children creeping up around them. They cling onto _Cute Guy's_ shirt and Tetsurou wonders if they know how lucky they are to be able to touch him so casually. Because he's had his time, and now it's over. He's leaving with Bokuto and they get to remain in _Cute Guy's_ presence.

"You can quit frowning," Bokuto says, mouth full of too much food to chew, never mind talk. "I let you fawn over you guy for ten minutes. So just to let you know, we only have twenty minutes to eat."

"Tetsurou takes a bite of his own lunch, swallows before talking. "That's fine, I wanted to get back as soon as possible anyway." Another bite, another. Now he probably looks just as gross as Bokuto. Thankfully, Tetsurou is pretty content in knowing that it will be a while before _Cute Guy_ gets the chance to leave. He doesn't care about all the other people that _are_ leaving now, they don't matter, Tetsurou doesn't need to look like a good and respectable member of society in front of them. Only for _Cute Guy_. "How long do I have left?" He's already downed two rice balls. He's not really hungry for more, but he has been provided with another two. If he has the time he might as well eat them too, it's free food.

"There're still ten minutes," Bokuto says, "you don't have to choke yourself trying to eat so fast." It's a rich statement coming from Bokuto but Tetsurou takes it in stride. "What are you in such a rush for anyway? That guy took forever, he'll still be there."

"I know, but did you see him?" Tetsurou is pretty sure that if Bokuto had seen him, really seen _Cute Guy_ , then he would understand. "I just want to be able to keep looking at him for as long as he's going to be here!"

"Why are you so into him? You guys didn't even talk."

"I'm not into him, I just enjoy looking at him. Is there something wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with that, I just don't get it."

Tetsurou shrugs. There's really not anything _to_ get. "He's the most attractive person that's been in all week, it just makes things easier to deal with if I can rest my eyes on him for a little while."

"Okay," Bokuto relents, "I'll judge properly when he gets to my station." That's all Tetsurou can really ask for. It's all Bokuto really needs to shove the rest of his lunch into his face so that they can run back to work.

To find _Cute Guy_ sitting with the two children attached to him still and way past any point where Tetsurou can offer him help. Yaku is already back at his station so Tetsurou settles back in next to Shirofuku welcoming another crowd of people in and getting started. Still, his eyes wander regularly to _Cute Guy_ on the floor, to each time Cute Guy moves forward to a new step, to _Cute Guy_ inserting a candle into his construction, around to paper macheting, and then finally, Tetsurou gets to see Bokuto stumbling over the final step. Tetsurou is going to tease him later because now he _definitely_ understands why Tetsurou has enjoyed watching _Cute Guy_ struggle through making three lanterns for most of the day.

"Thank you for your help," Tetsurou is broken from the well-worn monotony of the first step to see _Cute Guy_ plus two children holding completed lanterns. "We never would have finished if it wasn't for you."

"Give me two seconds," Tetsurou says to the family he's with at the moment. He stands, brushes himself off, straightens up his apron, and chases down _Cute Guy_ where he's going through a safety check. "Wow! They turned out really nice!" He's laying it on thick, but the children seem to appreciate his enthusiasm. "Look at all those decorations! It's so pretty!" The girl he's ducked down next to blushes before burying all but her eyes into _Cute Guy's_ shirt.

"That's what she was going for," _Cute Guy_ says, carding a hand through the girl's hair. He has a soft smile on his face, Tetsurou wishes it could be directed at him, but really, it's nice enough just to have seen it.

"And this one's red! That means it's faster, right!" Tetsurou cheers again. The boy doesn't hide, he just smiles big and wide and this is the part Tetsurou enjoys. _Cute Guy_ aside his favourite part of the whole thing is where the kids get to be proud, where they get to enjoy the rewards of hard work that they don't necessarily find enjoyable. Tetsurou smiles back at him, at them both, at the proud boy and the shy girl. "See, everything worked out in the end!"

"Thank you, again, Kuroo-san. You really helped us out today."

And the smile is directed his way this time. Soft and small but in no way is it's effect diminished. Tetsurou feels lighter, happier. He feels like every grumpy parent and every child sneezing over him has been made better because of this moment. He's just been something nice to look at, a treat for his eyes, but now that Tetsurou is caught under soft eyes and a softer smile his heart is beating traitorously hard in his chest. Fuck. He's never going to be able to forget this guy, is he?

 _Cute Guy_ and the cute children he brought with him leave and Tetsurou works through the last hour and a half he has left in a daze. He doesn't have a name, he doesn't have anything. He doesn't have anyone cute before his eyes to take his mind off of someone who in one day, worse, in only a few hours, has taken up too much of his mind.

"I'm so screwed," Tetsurou moans into Bokuto's shoulder at the end of the day. The immediate response he gets is a laugh, but Tetsurou knows Bokuto understands.

"Hey, think of it this way, he'll be at the festival!" For once, that he will admit, Bokuto's words do help.

 

 

Tetsurou's excitement cannot be contained on the night of the festival. It buzzes inside of him to the point that even Bokuto tells him to keep still but even the thought of keeping still is impossible. Tonight is the one night Tetsurou has to run into _Cute Guy_. Tetsurou knows that at some point during the night he will show up. He has to and Tetsurou has to believe in it because two weeks of keeping an eye out for him around the city has not yielded results. Tonight is all Tetsurou has before he starts to believe that the guy was just a fantasy. Sure, Tetsurou wasn't the only one to see him, but if he's never seen again then there's really no point in him being real.

Another child holding a lantern walks past, _Cute Guy_ is not with them.

If only Tetsurou had paid more attention to the two kids he had been with he would have more people to be on the lookout for. If he found one of the children as well, surely _Cute Guy_ will not be far behind. Instead, _Cute Guy_ is the only person to take up the space in his mind and Tetsurou is stuck searching for one person in a crowd of thousands.

Another lantern and still zero luck.

Another and another and another. He's surrounded by them and they tease him. There are so many lanterns and they stand out from the street lights that pave the way and the fairy lights that litter the trees but still none of them are lighting up on the person he most wants to see. 

"Quit sighing and shake your tin!"

"I'm not sighing!" Bokuto glares at him and Tetsurou glares back. Bokuto can say what he like but there is absolutely no way that Tetsurou is sighing over a mysterious stranger who maybe happens to be cute and has been taking over his mind for weeks. There's no way that Tetsurou is sighing because he's been collecting donations at the gate and yet there has been nowhere close to a sighting of the guy who maybe, kinda, sorta takes his breath away in the depths of an evening. He's definitely not sighing about the fact that it was clearly not meant to be no matter how much he wishes it were otherwise.

He's not sighing, Tetsurou would never let himself get too carried away over a person he doesn't even know. He would never, he kind of has.

He's sighing because he has to accept that it's never going to happen.

"Look, if you're going to keep staring people down at least ask for a few coins off of them. You're doing nothing!"

Tetsurou glares at Bokuto and switches on his most charming smile to beg for coins from a family coming in. The smile turns smug at the chink in his tin but Bokuto doesn't look any happier.

"One family doesn't make up for the hour that you've been moping. If we're short of money by one person I'm going to tell coach it's you and to leave you behind."

"You can't leave me behind, you need me. I put more work into fundraising than half the team did and you know it."

"So do the same again now and it won't be a problem." Tetsurou doesn't want to do the same now. He wants to give in and run through the festival and all the stalls and all the viewing spots to see if he can find the person he wants to be here with. "Nope," it figures that Bokuto can read his mind, "you know we have a break, we can search for the man of your dreams then."

"There haven't actually been any dreams," Tetsurou says.

"Then I still don't really get what the big deal is. If you see him, you see him, if you don't, you don't, but either way if we don't get enough money we won't be able to go to the invitational and most of this will have been pointless — although, maybe then we could get new uniforms!"

Tetsurou has to begrudgingly agree that Bokuto is right. He carries his tin up and down the pathway leading up to the entrance gate and wears his biggest smile. It's real enough, it's a smile for when he gets donations and for the lanterns that he watches the children bear proudly. It only tightens a little when he still doesn't see who he's hoping to see. He wishes he wasn't thinking about it so much, about him so much. One random chance encounter and Tetsurou has been able to think of little else. It's a shame to think he could have enjoyed this night so much more if it weren't for the expectations he had placed on running into _Cute Guy_ again. He's thought up so many scenarios for how this night would go but not one of them considered the fact that Tetsurou might not actually find him tonight.

Finally, as the flow of people climbing the path to the festival slows, he and Bokuto hand in their tins and are able to take a look themselves around the festival. Bokuto wastes most of his money on games leaving just enough for a skewer of meat. He watches Tetsurou swallow his plate of takoyaki and then a sweet dessert with hunger in his eyes but Tetsurou is not in a sharing mood tonight. Not after Bokuto dissed his voracious need to just see _Cute Guy_. If he sees him, if Tetsurou can talk to him, properly this time, then surely the magic will fade and the strange visual crush he has on the guy will fade. That's all he needs. He just needs an interaction to remind him that he isn't some mystical no name being, but a person same as anyone else.

With all of his food gone Tetsurou further ignores Bokuto's wide eyes to drag him to one of the higher viewing spots.

He's sure the fireworks are nice. They tend to be nice. But Tetsurou spends most of the fifteen minutes they set fire to the sky searching the crowd through his foggy breath. He can't really see anyone. It's just people, a crowd. There's no pull in his chest to direct him the right way, to the right face and the right pair of eyes, there's just nothing. The noise reaches a crescendo and with a heavy puff of breath, Tetsurou tilts his head to the sky so he can at least watch the end of the fireworks. It lights up with flowers, red, green, and blue, and fades to a cloud of smoke and a lofty applause. Tetsurou claps along too. If it weren't for his wandering mind the night could easily be one of his favourites. If only they didn't need to raise money for the team Tetsurou could have enjoyed this night so much more.

The crowd moves as one following the fireworks. Where once was a sea of people is now largely empty. They hang back only for a short while before Bokuto pulls Tetsurou towards one of the stalls still selling food. Bokuto manages to charm him into buying them both hot drinks and cakes to go with them and it's while they're waiting for their order that Tetsurou sees Bokuto's eyes grow wide.

Tetsurou turns to follow them and finds what he's been looking for all night.

He stares. _Cute Guy_ , it seems, is waiting for a hot drink too. Already in his hand is a stack of Taiyaki and he looks eagerly at the stall runner with every drink that is sat on the counter. He looks more beautiful under the festival lights than in the harsh lights of the gym. He almost glows. Tetsurou watches and waits for him to turn enough to see him, and then he'll wave, maybe. What if _Cute Guy_ doesn't remember him?

"Ah—!" Tetsurou feels the whole thing happen in slow motion and it takes barely an instant for him to hate Bokuto.

Tetsurou crashes into _Cute Guy_ and watches the delicately balanced snacks fall to the fall. _Cute Guy_ just stares at them, Tetsurou wonders if it happened in slow motion for him too. "Oh."

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," _Cute Guy_ answers, eyes still glued on the ground.

"It's not, you dropped all your food! I made you drop all your food!" Bokuto made Tetsurou make _Cute Guy_ drop his food. He shoots a quick glare over his shoulder but Bokuto only smiles back. He doesn't even care that his shove is causing Tetsurou all kinds of problems and also kind of making his heart sing at the same time. 

 _Cute Guy_ sighs, and Tetsurou turns back at the sound of it. It rings through his memories and makes him smile despite the circumstances. _Cute Guy_ just seems so done with life, both accepting of whilst disappointed with the lot he's drawn. "Yeah."

"I'll buy you more, I promise!" If it were anyone other than _Cute Guy_ , Tetsurou would have Bokuto absolutely pay him back. It is _Cute_ Guy, though, and so Tetsurou needs karma on his side.

"It's fine," _Cute Guy_ says again, "you don't have to."

"I insist."

"If you're sure, I really was looking forward to it."

"So you should have just said yes first!"

"I didn't want to jump too fast at the offer of free food." Tetsurou almost laughs at the bluntness of the statement, but seeing as _Cute Guy_ has finally picked his head up from the misery laying on the ground he avoids it. He doesn't want _Cute Guy_ to think bad of him.

Tetsurou spends another five hundred on a fresh stack of Taiyaki and watches some of the light return to _Cute Guy's_ eyes. He's beautiful, wonderful, he's still a mystery but tonight tells Tetsurou that he isn't going to get over this one fast. He passes over the stack of Taiyaki carefully and tries not to jolt at the brush of their fingers no matter how much the small contact warms his chest. _Cute Guy_ grasps harder at his fingers and Tetsurou has to deal with the skip of his heart the action causes.

"This probably sounds really weird, but did you help with the lantern making?" Tetsurou nods his head, he doesn't trust his voice when _Cute Guy_ has yet to let go of his fingers. He doesn't just himself at all when _Cute Guy_ seems to be feeling out more of Tetsurou's hand, Taiyaki still perched precariously between them. "It's you isn't it?" Tetsurou swallows a lump in his throat as _Cute Guy_ tilts his head to one side. It's adorable, it's too much, he's not entirely sure what he's really being asked. "You're the one that saved me! Thank you so much for helping I thought I was going to die there we were stuck there so long!" The desperate edge to his voice is something familiar and Tetsurou brushes over this odd way of remembering him with the pure delight that he has at least been remembered.

"No worries! We were there to help."

"Yeah, but you did so much more than anyone else. So many people just wanted to read me off the instructions, but you actually helped. Nobody else wanted to get so handsy." As he says the word he moves his hand and Tetsurou tries not to let the loss show on his face. He paints a smile instead.

"I may have taken pity on you," and more than a little bit of a fancy.

"Akaashi," gets called from the stall and Cute Guy turns to collect his drink. Tetsurou takes note of the name.

Akaashi struggles to balance the pile of food in one hand to get his drink and Tetsurou wordlessly takes it back into his hand. Akaashi sends him a smile, only for it to quickly be replaced with a frown. "I can't believe I let you buy me food, I'm the one who owes you."

Tetsurou waves his free hand in front of him. "No, no, you don't owe me anything."

Akaashi doesn't say anything back. He just stares. His eyes are dark in the low light but Tetsurou can see them working, at what he doesn't know. His name gets called again, this time from further away and Tetsurou can see the decision made. Akaashi pulls a pen from nowhere and scribbles on the cup in his hand. "Here's my mail, when you're in the mood for a thank you let me know." Akaashi pushes the drink into Tetsurou's hand and in the same motion pulls the Taiyaki with him. He takes two steps, sends a wave over his shoulder, and then disappears into the night.

"I can't believe," Bokuto says, "that after all of that he was the one to give his contact details to you."

Tetsurou can't really believe it either.


End file.
